In Harlem and beyond, the 1920s saw a period of relaxed social mores as people rebelled against Prohibition-era restrictions. The speakeasy culture paved the way for LGBTQ+ nightlife and drag balls-or what Langston Hughes called “Spectacles in Color,” according to James Wilson, author of Bulldaggers, Pansies, and Chocolate Babies: Performance, Race and Sexuality in the Harlem Renaissance and a professor of English at LaGuardia Community College.
As he described the queer nightlife scene back then to TIME, “The Harlem balls, or the ‘fairy balls,’ as they were oftentimes called, attracted people from all over the country to converge on the Renaissance Casino, and they would cross-dress… There were contests. There were awards given for the most lavish gowns and costumes.
